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UPAAN-LA: Take a moment and please show off to our alumni community what an outstanding rockstar alumni you are!
TC: As I look around this very moment, I don't see any groupies around so rockstar is probably not the best way to describe me. I like to consider myself a blessed individual. I am truly passionate about my work and my career- having the ability to impact the lives of urban school students daily. The reality is that we spend most of our waking hours at work and having a profession that brings purpose to my everyday life is something that I refuse to replace.
UPAAN-LA: What do you enjoy doing in your downtime?
TC: I enjoy spending time with my wife and my friends. Most of our leisure time is spent enjoying good food and good drinks, relaxing in front of a TV or computer screen, or attempting to relive my NBA dreams. I also enjoy gastronomical adventures while traveling, a mellow night at a baseball game, and my favorite, a passionate conversation about the state of affairs over cheap beer at happy hour.
UPAAN-LA: At the sprightly young age you are, you hold the position of principal of Animo Charter School. What are your feelings/thoughts on leading the future generation? Is the world in good hands?
TC: I am still taken aback sometimes when I think about my first year as a principal, founding and building a school from the ground up. At the age of 29, I was considered a veteran on my staff. That really speaks to the retention and longevity of teachers in urban schools. I do worry about the future but what generation doesn't. It is often hard to paint a picture of hope when you see the social injustices of urban education. It is an absolute travesty that there are high schools in Los Angeles where 9th grade classes are 1,000 strong while graduating classes are 200-300. Of course, only a handful are applying to 4-year universities. How can our country continue to claim ourselves as a global power when large segments of our population are not receiving the education to compete in the global market? I am glad though that there seems to be more of a sense of urgency around this issue. The landscape of education in Los Angeles is changing with the efforts of charter schools, the Mayor's partnership with Los Angeles Unified, as well as reform efforts within traditional schools.
UPAAN-LA: What has led/driven you to the career path you have chose? How did attending Penn help you in your current position, if at all?
TC: After graduation, I joined Teach for America. I was placed to teach science and math at Compton High School in Compton, CA. The six years working at Compton High changed me completely. It's funny how so many Penn graduate enter the financial sector, law, or medicine. I had ambitions of being a doctor through my four years at Penn but it became quite apparent quickly that my abilities would be better served in the field of education. I truly did not appreciate my Penn experience until I started working at Compton High. The dichotomy my educational experience with that of my students so crystallized my ambition to provide my students more opportunities than what is typically afforded to them.
UPAAN-LA: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Where do you see yourself in 20 years?
TC: In 5 years, I hope to be in a position where I am impacting education reform in Los Angeles in an even larger scale. For example, I would hope to lead complete reform efforts of an entire organization or school district. 20 years is too far in the future for me to imagine. The bottom line is that my greatest hope is that the education landscape looks very different than the way it looks today.
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